This Is Why Emma Watson Won't Take a Selfie With You

In a new cover story for Vanity Fair's March 2017 issue, Emma Watson explains why she recently started refusing selfie requests from fans. According to Emma, it's all about security, something she's long fought for in her career since her Harry Potter days. "For me, it's the difference between being able to have a life or not. If someone takes a photograph of me and posts it, within two seconds they've created a marker of exactly where I am within 10 meters. They can see what I'm wearing and who I'm with. I just can't give that tracking data." Instead, Emma suggests, ask her for an autograph or literally anything about Harry Potter. "I have to carefully pick and chose my moment to interact," she tells VF. "When am I a celebrity sighting versus when am I going to make someone's freakin' week? Children I don't say no to, for example."

Emma with a fan at the London premiere of Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows in 2011.

With social media, Emma explains, her battle for privacy and security has been harder than some actresses before her. "People will say to me, 'Have you spoken to Jodie Foster or Natalie Portman? They would have great advice for you on how to grow up in the limelight.' I'm not saying it was in any way easy on them, but with social media it's a whole new world. They've both said technology has changed the game… Privacy for me is not an abstract idea."

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